An uprooted tree lays on the rails in Muenster, northwestern Germany, on January 18, 2018, as many parts of the country are hit by cyclone “Friederike”. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Guido Kirchner / Germany OUTGUIDO KIRCHNER/AFP/Getty Images

A man looks at an empty schedule information board in the central train station in Bielefeld western Germany, on January 18, 2018. German rail says halting all long-distance trains due to storm on the afternoon of January 18. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Friso Gentsch / Germany OUTFRISO GENTSCH/AFP/Getty Images

A truck crashed during heavy storms at the motorway A 71 near Erfurt, central Germany, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. A powerful storm lashed Europe with high winds and snow, killing at least four people in three countries, grounding flights, halting trains, ripping roofs off buildings and flipping over trucks. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Rescue workers try to remove a tree from an ICE train of Deutsche Bahn stands on the rail track near Lamspringe between Hannover and Goettingen, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. A powerful storm lashed Europe with high winds and snow, killing at least four people in three countries, grounding flights, halting trains, ripping roofs off buildings and flipping over trucks. (Swen Pfoertner/dpa via AP)

A truck sits on the side of a road covered with snow near the municipality of Langen Bruetz, in northern Germany, as a deadly storm lashed part of the country with hurricane-force winds. Violent gales battered northern Europe and beyond, snapping air and train links and leaving eight people — including two firefighters — dead. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Jens Büttner / Germany OUTJENS BUTTNER/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken with a drone on January 18, 2018 in Duisburg, northern Germany, shows the damage caused by strong winds at a secondary school. Violent gales battered northern Europe and beyond, snapping air and train links and leaving eight people — including two firefighters — dead. A 59-year-old camper was killed instantly when a tree fell on him in North Rhine-Westphalia state, German police said, as wind speeds attained a high of 203 kilometres an hour (126 mph) at the Brocken — the highest peak of northern Germany. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Christoph Reichwein / Germany OUTCHRISTOPH REICHWEIN/AFP/Getty Images

Stranded passengers wait at the service point of the Deutsche Bahn in the central train station of Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. The Deutsche Bahn cancelled all train services in Germany due to storm ‘Friederike’ which has swept across the area. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

People walk with a bicycle through fierce winds in Rotterdam, on January, 2018, during the second western storm of the year. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued a code red for the storm that is expected to bring wind speeds up to 140 kph. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin UTRECHT / Netherlands OUTROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images

Bicycles and a scooter overturned by heavy winds lie in a street in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Scores of flights and trains were cancelled in The Netherlands and drivers were warned to stay off the roads as the country took a powerful hit of a storm which was set to lash large parts of Europe.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Travellers heading to Schiphol Airport sit in dense traffic near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Scores of flights and trains were cancelled in The Netherlands and drivers were warned to stay off the roads as the country took a powerful hit of a storm which was set to lash large parts of Europe.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Builders fix the side wall of a house after it was blown away by windstorms in De Meern on January 18, 2018 during the second winter storm of the month, as winds gusted up to 140 kilometres (86 miles) an hour in some areas. The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms as bitter winds barrelled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin van Lonkhuijsen / Netherlands OUTROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Parts of a roof lie on the pavement in front of a porch house in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on January 18, 2018, during the second winter storm of the month, as winds gusted up to 140 kilometres (86 miles) an hour in some areas. The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms as bitter winds barrelled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin Utrecht / Netherlands OUTROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images

The damaged roof of a porch house is pictured in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on January 18, 2018, during the second winter storm of the month, as winds gusted up to 140 kilometres (86 miles) an hour in some areas. The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms as bitter winds barrelled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin Utrecht / Netherlands OUTROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers wait for trains at Utrecht Central Station in Utrecht on January 18, 2018. Trains have been cancelled or delayed because of the second western storm of the year in The Netherlands. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Remko DE WAAL / Netherlands OUTREMKO DE WAAL/AFP/Getty Images

A view of a graveyard following extensive snowfall during the last forty eight hours on January 18, 2018 in Leadhills, Scotland. Motorists are being warned to drive with caution as snow and icy conditions continue in the South of Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

An elderly villager clears the extensive snowfall outside her home, which has fallen during the last forty eight hours on January 18, 2018 in Leadhills, Scotland. Motorists are being warned to drive with caution as snow and icy conditions continue in the South of Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A man starts to dig out a car completely covered in snow on January 18, 2018 in Leadhills, Scotland. Motorists are being warned to drive with caution as snow and icy conditions continue in the South of Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Snow covered hills off the B797 Abington to Leadhills road on January 18, 2018 in Leadhills, Scotland. Motorists are being warned to drive with caution as snow and icy conditions continue in the South of Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A powerful storm pummeled Europe with high winds and snow Thursday, killing at least seven people in three countries, grounding flights, halting trains, ripping roofs off buildings and flipping over trucks.

The Dutch national weather service recorded wind gusts of up to 140 kph (87 mph) in the southern port of Hook of Holland as the storm passed over.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol briefly halted flights for an hour in the morning, and airline KLM scrapped more than 200 flights even before the storm arrived. Trains were halted across the nation and in Germany.

Falling trees killed two 62-year-old men in the Netherlands, a woman south of the Belgian capital of Brussels, a 59-year-old man camping in the German town of Emmerich and a firefighter in the German town of Bad Salzungen.

In Lippstadt, in western Germany, a driver died when he lost control of his van in strong winds and drove into oncoming traffic. In German’s eastern state of Brandenburg, police said a gust of wind flipped a truck over a highway, killing the driver.

Police spokeswoman Jose Albers told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that authorities also were investigating whether the powerful gusts were to blame for the death of a 66-year-old man who fell through a plexiglass roof in the central town of Vuren.

Social media in the Netherlands was flooded with images of people being blown from their bicycles, cargo containers falling off a ship and damage to buildings, including a roof that peeled off an apartment block in Rotterdam.

Water authorities in the low-lying nation closed an inflatable storm barrier east of Amsterdam to prevent flooding as the storm pushed up water levels.

Traffic on Dutch roads was plunged into chaos, with the wind blowing over tractor trailers, toppling trees and hampering efforts to clean up the mess. In Amsterdam, authorities temporarily halted all trams and closed the city’s zoo.

Before halting all trains, the Dutch rail service reported numerous incidents including a collision between a train and a trampoline.

In neighboring Belgium, the port of Ghent closed down because of the high winds and tram traffic was halted in parts of Brussels.

In Germany, police reported several injuries as well as the four deaths and the national railway company suspended long-distance trains across the country as train tracks were littered with fallen trees. Deutsche Bahn’s announcement Thursday afternoon came hours after all trains in two of Germany’s populous western areas, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, were halted.
Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss told n-tv television that the measure would remain all day Thursday as a precaution. He said regional and local trains were still running in Berlin, Bavaria and the far north.

In western Germany, some 100,000 people were left without electricity and schools closed down. The square in front of Cologne’s famous Cathedral was partially cordoned off amid fears that masonry could be blown loose. A supermarket roof peeled off in Menden.

The storm toppled a crane in Kirtorf, central Germany.

In Britain, power was knocked out to thousands of homes. Gale-force winds damaged overhead power lines that supply trains and brought trees crashing onto the tracks, causing severe delays for thousands of commuters. Even Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle were delayed in their train trip to Cardiff in Wales.

In Romania, snowstorms and high winds forced the closure of dozens of schools, several main roads and Black Sea ports in the east. Interior Minister Carmen Dan said 32,000 people were left without power. Authorities also had to free a bus carrying 22 people that was stranded in snowdrifts in Romania’s eastern Galati region.

Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Raf Casert in Brussels, Alison Mutler in Bucharest, Romania, and Jill Lawless and Gregory Katz in London, contributed to this report.

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